KINGWOOD – The University High School football team’s offense found another gear on Friday night in Kingwood as the Hawks defeated Preston High 49-13 on a chilly October night.
UHS (7-2) scored four times through the air and thrice on the ground. Junior quarterback Harrison Helbig completed 14 of his 22 passes for 311 yards and four scores (to three different receivers). Senior Marcos Kniska carried the ball 17 times for 197 yards and three touchdowns, all before halftime.
University outgained Preston 540 to 250 in the contest, and the Hawks will carry a steady wave of momentum into next week’s Mohawk Bowl as winners of their last three games.
“It was good to see our guys bear down and overcome the big play Preston made early on,” UHS coach Eric Snyder said. “Have to give credit to Glenn Brown, he gave up a big play and then they went after him five more times with Aidan Schmidl, who is very talented, and I think Glenn did a fabulous job on him in that matchup.”
The play Snyder is referring to was an opening-drive bomb by Preston quarterback Slaton Manko to Schmidl for 39 yards to the UHS 22-yard line.
The UHS defense eventually forced a turnover on downs as the Knights failed to convert on fourth-and-ten from the 12.
That stop defensively set the tone for the remainder of the game for the Hawks, as they drove 88 yards, ending with Kniska scoring his first from one yard out.
Kniska found paydirt once more in the opening quarter, and Helbig connected with Brown on touchdown passes of 38 and 17 yards.
The Knights found their first points late in the frame as Manko found Kaleb Stone for a 58-yard touchdown, but the UHS defense caused problems in the backfield all evening for the senior signal caller.
The state’s leading receiver, Hayden George, continued his impressive 2025 campaign with four catches for 119 yards. He scored the Hawks’ final touchdown of the night on a 74-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter. It was George’s 75th reception and took him over 1,000 yards for the year.
“Hayden has extreme explosiveness and balance in his lower body,” Snyder said. “He’s hard to tackle on the first try, or even be touched at times. He can have someone going in one direction and immediately cut the opposite way when needed. You have to get a good hit on Hayden to take him down, and I don’t see that happening much.”
PHS added a late touchdown through Tucker Hall with a nine-yard run.
The Knights will have two more opportunities to play their way into the playoff picture in Class AAAA with a road trip to Buckhannon-Upshur next week before hosting Elkins.
The Hawks now look ahead to next week’s Mohawk Bowl against their crosstown rival, Morgantown, which will feature two top-four teams in Class AAAA.
BOX SCORE
University 49, Preston 13
SCORING SUMMARY
UHS – Kniska 14 run (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – Brown 38 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – Kniska 1 run (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – Brown 17 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
PHS – Stone 58 pass/Manko (PAT no good)
UHS – Kniska 10 run (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – Lewis 15 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
UHS – George 74 pass/Helbig (Goodenow PAT)
PHS – Hall 9 run (Taylor PAT)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: University – Helbig 14/22-311-4TD, Byrer 0/3-1INT. Preston – Manko 7/24-142-1TD-1INT.
RUSHING: University – Kniska 17-197-3TD, Katchur 2-16, Helbig 8-5, Byrer 2-8. Preston – Stone 3-41, Kilkenny 5-28, Hall 4-27-TD, Manko 14-8, Strawser 4-4.
RECEIVING: University – George 4-119-TD, Custer 4-72, Lewis 3-67-TD, Brown 3-53-2TD. Preston – Stone 3-95-TD, Schmidl 2-44, Lilly 1-2, Hayes 1-1.
